The Cross River State government has assured the Internally Displaced People of Bakassi that they will soon have a place of their own as the first phase of the social housing units being built by the government at Ifiang Ayong is about 70 per cent completed.

In a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor , Mr. Christian Ita, the State Commissioner for Social Housing, Edem Okokon Effiom, said the houses are of international standards.

He said: “these buildings as you can see are not mere huts but two bedroom flats. They are built with the state-of-the-art facilities. You cannot have social housing units in any part of the world better than these ones not even in advanced countries.”

The commissioner applauded governor Ben Ayade for keeping to his promise, maintaining that the governor is seeking solutions to the humanitarian crisis in Bakassi created by the international community.

“The problem we are trying to resolve as a state was not created by us. We didn’t create this, United Nations and the Federal Government created this but today it is a shame that they have abandoned us. They would have been here to solve this problem”, he said.

On the choice of the project site, Effiom explained that it was militant infested before but has been transformed to make the inhabitants happy. “ We have transformed their lives as they come here to do little jobs, man of them can now make a decent living. Nothing can be more bigger than the lives we have transformed here”, he added.

Speaking on the project, a displaced youth, Okon Effiom Archibong commended the state government on the feat and expressed excitement at the prospect of owning a decent home.